A note from Kelly King: I count it a privilege to work at Lifeway Christian Resources with some of the best biblical content creators in the world. Whether it’s ongoing curriculum or short-term Bible studies, our goal is to provide trustworthy content that is rooted in Scripture. Even so, you may not know about a tremendous resource that is available through smallgroup.com. In today’s article, Cynthia Hopkins shares about how you can incorporate this tool into the ongoing discipleship strategy for your ministry.
My mom makes the best chocolate chip cake I’ve ever tasted. Naturally, I wanted to recreate that cake for my own family and friends, both for their own enjoyment and mine, too. I wanted them to say the same thing about me—“Cynthia makes the best chocolate chip cake I’ve ever tasted!”
The problem is, I’m typically a failure at baking, and this cake is made in a bundt pan. I tried my best, but I never could get it right. Part of the cake inevitably stuck to the pan every single time I made it. So the finished product, though quite tasty, always looked like an unattended, utensil-less toddler had had the time of his life.
But recently I was at my mom and dad’s house and discovered the secret of successful bundt cake making. I don’t want to call her a cheater, but all these years my mom has had the help of a product I knew nothing about—Baker’s Joy®. That special cooking spray has been a game changer.
When leading women’s Bible studies or discussion groups, you might have experienced something like what I did with that chocolate chip bundt cake. You know what it should look like, but it’s a struggle and you don’t have the right tools to help you get there. You know that asking good questions is the key to good discussion, but you need help forming those questions. That’s why Lifeway’s Smallgroup.com is a game changer.
Smallgroup.com is an online Bible study resource. It contains an ever-growing customizable library of over 2,000 text and video-enhanced studies from all 66 books of the Bible. It features more than 200 topics, and that number increases daily as new studies are added.
With a membership to smallgroup.com, you can log in, search a topic or passage, and begin building any series.
- You can create a whole class based on any topic or text you’d like and make it your own.
- Right there within smallgroup.com, you can further customize any existing study with your specific teaching points, language, and illustrations.
- You can align the content to your pastor’s sermon series in minutes.
- If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can “request a study” as part of your subscription. The Groups team at Lifeway will write it for you and upload it to the site.
Of particular interest to women’s ministry leaders is the ever-growing selection of popular studies from teachers like Priscilla Shirer, Kelly Minter, J.D. Greear, Beth Moore, David Platt, Matt Chandler, and Lisa Harper. That means if it’s on smallgroup.com, you don’t have to wait until someone has finished using the set of DVDs your church owns! Through a membership to smallgroup.com, you can log in and stream these videos through any web-enabled device or through your Roku®, Amazon Fire®, or Apple TV® apps.
In addition, every video study has its own discussion guide, with questions to help you lead your group to explore and apply biblical truths. These guides are designed as a paired resource to the teaching video, regardless of whether group members are working through a study workbook.
Smallgroup.com offers three subscription plans to suit every need:
- Basic is $199/year and includes unlimited access to the entire Bible study library, the “Write your own” Bible study feature, study requests (fulfilled within fifteen business days), downloadable study guides to share with group members, and streaming videos.
- Plus is $399/year and includes all the features of Basic plus the ability to email study guides and videos to an unlimited number of people, a groups management feature, smallgroup.com access for an unlimited number of group leaders, and 20% off all contracts with CustomBibleStudy.com.
- Premium is $3,999/year. This subscription includes all of the above features, plus a fully custom experience year-round with a dedicated small group specialist. That means you’d have the services of someone like me, to whom you would send sermon outlines or study requests. Your dedicated specialist would then build or write your requested studies for you in your smallgroup.com account within five business days. Your specialist would also be available to manage your groups, leaders, and members and create discipleship pathways. This subscription plan offers 30% off all contracts with CustomBibleStudy.com.
Understanding that this is a bigger commitment than running to store to purchase a can of Baker’s Joy, we want you to be able to know for sure what a game changer this tool can be before you subscribe. So head on over to smallgroup.com and check it out with a free thirty-day trial. You’re going to love it!
Cynthia Hopkins is a writer, speaker, and the founder of Platform 320, a nonprofit ministry for women. Cynthia has been writing articles, Bible studies, and devotions for Lifeway for 20 years, and serves as content editor for smallgroup.com. She is the author of “What Now?” a 30-day book of devotions for students, and “Side By Side,” team-building devotions for the Gospel-centered workplace. Through Platform 320, Cynthia leads multi-church women’s retreats, ministry wives retreats, and women’s mission endeavors. Her husband Clay is the associate pastor at their church, FBC College Station, TX. They have two young adult children, Brandon and Abby.